Hospitality firm owned by Cowboys, Yankees hired to sell tickets to The Mansion at Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs has retained a company co-owned by the Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees to sell spaces to its new luxury accommodation named The Mansion at Churchill Downs, according to a report in Sports Business Journal.

Legends Hospitality, which previously marketed suites at Cowboys Stadium, and is currently offering premier seating options at the Rose Bowl and suites at a new Formula One track in Texas, will be in charge of selling the pricey Kentucky Oaks and Derby experience to corporations and wealthy individuals throughout the world.

As first detailed in the Paulick Report, individual admission to The Mansion will cost up to $12,500 per seat annually, with multi-year commitments required. The Mansion will be located on the sixth floor of the Louisville, Ky., track in the area formerly known as the Joe Hirsch Media Center. As part of an overall construction project costing $9 million, the racing press will be moved to another location at Churchill Downs to accommodate The Mansion.

Churchill Downs officials would not confirm ticket prices for The Mansion, but company vice president John Asher told Sports Business Journal they are “still below what we know to be the purchase price for our prime tickets on the secondary market.”

Ticket scalpers have made a fortune on Derby seats for years.

Churchill Downs marketing executive Tricia Amburgey told Sports Business Journal sales efforts for The Mansion are to be directed at people who may have never attended Derby weekend before. “We didn't want to just move money around, have people say, 'Oh, well, I've been in Millionaires Row (two areas on the fourth and sixth floors where celebrities congregate at the Derby), now I will try this,'” she told Sports Business Journal.

Legends, based in New Jersey and with offices in New York, has retained Chris Quinn, formerly vice president of sales and marketing at Santa Anita Park, to consult on The Mansion. According to Sports Business Journal, Quinn is also working on new premium seating sales that are part of the renovation of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.